House Democrats launch ethics and ballot-access task force tied to Trump messaging
House Democrats are launching a task force aimed at steering their message heading into the midterm elections toward ethics changes and election-access protections while also underscoring the business dealings of President Donald Trump and his family, the Associated Press reported.
The task force, which Democrats said will include both progressive and moderate members, is expected to become a centerpiece of Democratic outreach as the party seeks to regain control of Congress from Republicans, AP reported.
Rep. Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee and a longtime ally of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, will spearhead the effort, AP reported. Morelle said Jeffries fears Democrats are losing Americans’ faith in government and institutions because decisions are frequently made based on the personal interests of lawmakers and the president, AP reported, adding that Democrats plan to put “significant emphasis” on the issue.
Morelle floated a policy ban on stock trading for members of the executive branch, Congress, and federal courts as one possible proposal, AP reported. He also said a code of ethics and term limits for Supreme Court justices were other possibilities for the task force, AP reported.
AP reported that Democrats frequently characterize Trump’s second term as what they call the “most corrupt administration in American history,” a characterization the White House denies. Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said Trump acts only in the best interests of the public and that his assets are in a trust managed by his children, asserting there are no conflicts of interest, AP reported.
The AP report said the business profile Democrats want to focus on includes arrangements made by Trump’s family company, the Trump Organization, in eight foreign countries a little over a year into his second term. AP reported that the deals include Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Vietnam, and said Democrats want to highlight them alongside the administration’s ethics and election-access agenda.
Morelle and other Democrats also tied their strategy to Hungary’s political moment, drawing on the way the opposition in that country used an anti-corruption message to oust Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, AP reported. The AP report said Democrats want to “try the same playbook” against Trump before the midterms.
The AP report included consultations from groups working on authoritarianism-related strategy with Democratic officials. Justin Florence, co-founder of Protect Democracy, told AP the Hungarian elections offer a model but said Democrats will need to focus on a couple of priorities, and he described the challenge as having “almost there’s too much to do,” AP reported.
Ben Raderstorf, a strategist with Protect Democracy, said Orbán’s opponents made the message stand out by emphasizing that it must be “loud,” “colorful” and “engaging,” not just “staid hearings,” AP reported. He said the goal was to break through attention cycles.
The AP report said task force co-chair Rep. Nikema Williams planned to use sharper language about election interference and accountability, asserting the president was “actively meddling in our elections” and attempting to impose a “Jim Crow 2.0 era through intimidation and suppression.” She vowed the task force would “hold Trump accountable for his corrupt schemes, expose them to the American people, and present the alternative they deserve,” AP reported.
Watchdog groups involved in discussions with Democrats said they wanted the effort to lead to more than campaign messaging. Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, told AP that the goal was for the initiative to be serious policy work rather than “just talking points,” saying it should address both the administration’s actions and what he described as the “systemic rigging of the political process in Washington,” AP reported.